Beginning

The Lord Instructs Israel to Leave

33 The Lord told Moses, “Go up^[a] from here, you and the people whom you brought out of Egypt, to the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, ‘I’ll give it to your descendants.’^{[b] 2} I’ll send an angel in front of you and I’ll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ³ Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I won’t go up among you, because you are an obstinate^[c] people, and otherwise I might consume you along the way.”

⁴ When the people heard this troubling word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. ⁵ The Lord had told Moses, “Say to the Israelis, ‘You are an obstinate people,^[d] and if for one moment I went up among you, I would put an end to you. Now take off your ornaments so I may decide^[e] what to do with you.’” ⁶ So the Israelis did not wear^[f] their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

God’s Presence at the Tent of Meeting

⁷ Moses used to take the tent and set it up outside the camp at a distance from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting. When anyone sought the Lord, he would go out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp. ⁸ When Moses would go out to the tent, all the people would get up, and each would stand in the doorway of his tent, watching Moses until he entered the tent. ⁹ When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the doorway of the tent while God^[g] spoke with Moses. ¹⁰ When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the doorway of the tent, all of them^[h] would get up and prostrate themselves in worship, each one at the doorway of his tent. ¹¹ The Lord would speak to Moses face to face just as a man speaks with his friend. When Moses^[i] returned to the camp, Nun’s son Joshua, his young servant, would not leave the tent.

The Promise of God’s Presence on the Journey

¹² Moses told the Lord, “Look, you have told me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name,’ and also, ‘You have found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now, if I’ve found favor in your sight, please show me your ways so I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. And remember,^[j] this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ He said, “My presence will go with you, and I’ll give you rest.” ¹⁵ Then Moses^[k] told the Lord,^[l] “If your presence does not go with us,^[m] don’t bring us up from here. ¹⁶ Otherwise,^[n] how shall it be known that your people and I have received favor from you, unless you go with us and that we, your people and I, are distinguished from all the people on the surface of the earth?”

Moses Sees God’s Glory

¹⁷ The Lord told Moses, “I’ll do the very^[o] thing that you have said, because you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses^[p] said, “Please show me your glory.”

¹⁹ God^[q] said, “I’ll cause all my goodness to pass before you, and I’ll proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I’ll be gracious to whom I’ll be gracious, and I’ll show compassion on whom I’ll show compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “You cannot see my face, because a man cannot see me and live.”

²¹ The Lord said, “Look, there is a place near^[r] me where you can stand on the rock; ²² and as my glory passes by, I’ll put you in a crevice in the rock, and cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by. ²³ Then I’ll remove my hand so you may see my back, but my face must not be seen.”

The Tablets of the Law Replaced

34 The Lord told Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, and I’ll write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets that you broke. ² Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning on Mount Sinai, where you are to present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain. ³ No one is to come up with you, nor is anyone to be seen anywhere on the mountain. Also, the sheep and cattle are not to graze in front of that mountain.”

⁴ So Moses^[s] carved out two stone tablets like the first ones, got up early in the morning, and climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him. He took with him the two stone tablets. ⁵ The Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed the name of the Lord.^{[t] 6} The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed,

⁸ Moses quickly bowed to the ground and prostrated himself in worship. ⁹ He said, “If I’ve found favor in your sight, Lord, please, Lord, walk among us. Certainly this is an obstinate people, but pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your own inheritance.”

The Covenant Promises Repeated

¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “I’m now going to make a covenant. I’ll do miraculous deeds in full view of your people that haven’t been done^[v] in all the earth or in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, because it’s an awesome thing that I’ll do with you. ¹¹ Obey^[w] what I am commanding you today and I’ll drive out from before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

¹² “Be very careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, so they won’t be a snare among you. ¹³ Rather, you are to tear down their altars, you are to smash their sacred pillars, and you are to cut down their sacred poles^[x]— ¹⁴ indeed, you are not to bow down in worship to any other god, because the Lord’s name is Jealous—he’s a jealous God— ¹⁵ Otherwise, you may make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and when they prostitute themselves with their gods and offer sacrifices to their gods, someone may invite you and then you may eat some of their sacrifices.

¹⁶ “You are not to take any of their daughters for your sons. Otherwise, when their daughters prostitute themselves with their gods, they may cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.

¹⁷ “You are not to make molten gods for yourselves.

¹⁸ “You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days, at the appointed time in the month Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ “Everything firstborn^[y] belongs to me: all the males of your herds, the firstborn of both cattle and sheep. ²⁰ You are to redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a sheep, and if you don’t redeem it, you are to break its neck. You are to redeem every firstborn of your sons, and no one is to appear before me empty-handed.

²¹ “For six days you are to work, but on the seventh day you are to rest; even during plowing time and harvest you are to rest.

²² “You are to observe the Festival of Weeks, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Tabernacles^[z] at the turn of the year. ²³ Three times during the year all your males are to appear in the presence of the Lord God of Israel, ²⁴ since I’m going to drive out nations before you, and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land, when you go up to appear in the presence of the Lord your God three times a year.

²⁵ “You are not to offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, nor are you to allow the sacrifice of the Festival of Passover to remain until morning.

²⁶ “You are to bring the best^[aa] of the first fruits of the ground to the house of the Lord your God.

“You are not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ Then the Lord told Moses, “Write down these words, because I’m making a covenant with you and with Israel according to these words.”

²⁸ While Moses^[ab] was there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, he did not eat or drink.^[ac] He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.

Moses’ Face Shines

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he had the two tablets in his hand,^[ad] and he did not know that the skin of his face was ablaze with light because he had been speaking with God.^{[ae] 30} Aaron and all the Israelis saw Moses and immediately noticed that the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ When Moses called to them, Aaron and the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and he spoke to them. ³² Afterwards all the Israelis came near and he gave them everything the Lord told him on Mount Sinai as commandments. ³³ When Moses finished speaking with them he put a veil over his face, ³⁴ and then whenever Moses would come in the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he left the Lord’s presence.^[af] When he went out, he would tell the Israelis what he had been commanded. ³⁵ The Israelis would see the face of Moses and that the skin of his face shone; then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with God.^[ag]

The Israelis Collect Material for the Tent

35 Moses assembled the entire congregation of the Israelis and told them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:^{[ah] 2} For six days work is to be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest in dedication to the Lord. Anyone who does work on that day is to be executed. ³ You are not to light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath.”

⁴ Then Moses told the entire congregation of the Israelis, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ⁵ ‘Take from among yourselves an offering for the Lord. Everyone whose heart is willing is to bring as an offering for the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁶ blue, purple, and scarlet material;^[ai] fine linen and goat hair; ⁷ ram skins dyed red,^[aj] dolphin^[ak] skins, acacia wood, ⁸ oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for aromatic incense, ⁹ onyx stones, and stones for setting in the ephod and the breast piece.

¹⁰ “‘Let everyone who is skilled^[al] among you come and make everything that the Lord has commanded: ¹¹ the tent, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets, ¹² the ark, its poles, the Mercy Seat, the curtain,^{[am] 13} the table, its poles, all its furnishings, and the bread of the presence, ¹⁴ the lamp stand for light, its furnishings, its lamps, and oil for the light, ¹⁵ the altar of incense, its poles, the anointing oil, the aromatic incense, and the screen for the doorway at the entrance to the tent, ¹⁶ the altar for burnt offerings, the bronze lattice for it, its poles, and all its furnishings, the basin and its base, ¹⁷ the hangings for the court, its pillars, its sockets,^[an] the screen for the gate of the court, ¹⁸ the pegs for the tent, the pegs for the court, and their cords, ¹⁹ the woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments of Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons for serving as priests.’”

²⁰ Then the entire congregation of the Israelis withdrew from Moses’ presence, ²¹ and every person whose heart moved him and all whose spirits prompted them, brought an offering to the Lord for constructing^[ao] the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ²² Both the men and women came—all whose hearts prompted them—and brought brooches, earrings, rings, pendants, and all kinds of gold jewelry. Every person presented a wave offering of gold to the Lord.

²³ Everyone who had blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red,^[ap] and dolphin^[aq] skins brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who could give an offering of silver and bronze brought it as a contribution for the Lord. Also all who had acacia wood for any use in the work^[ar] brought it.

²⁵ Every skilled^[as] woman spun with her hands, and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine linen. ²⁶ All the women who were skilled artisans^[at] spun the goat hair.

²⁷ The leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod and the breast piece, ²⁸ spices and oil for the light and for the anointing oil and the aromatic incense. ²⁹ Each Israeli man and woman whose heart was prompted brought something^[au] as a freewill offering to the Lord for all the work that the Lord had commanded them to do through^[av] Moses.

Craftsmen for Building the Tent

³⁰ Moses told the Israelis, “Look, the Lord has called^[aw] Uri’s son Bezalel, grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, ³¹ and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, and with knowledge of all kinds of work, ³² to make artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, ³³ to cut stones for setting, to carve wood, and to engage in all kinds of artistic work. ³⁴ And he has given both him and Ahisamach’s son Oholiab from the tribe of Dan the ability to teach. ³⁵ He has equipped them^[ax] to do all kinds of work done by an engraver, designer, embroider in blue, purple and scarlet material and in fine linen, or as a weaver. They were able to do^[ay] all kinds of work and were skilled designers.